Shoe cleaner apparatus



March 29, 1955 w, v, STONE 2,704,852

SHOE CLEANER APPARATUS Filed July 6, 1953 United States Patent SHOE CLEANER APPARATUS Walter V. Stone, Topeka, Kans.

Application July 6, 1953, Serial No. 366,109

1 Claim. (Cl. 15-112) This invention relates to apparatus for the removal of mud, dirt and the like from shoes while the same remain on the foot of the user. It has for its primary object the provision of shoe cleaner apparatus presenting in combination a number of scraper blades, a number of wiper elements, a brusher assembly and a foot mat, all arranged for cooperation both functionally and structurally to present an apparatus which is efficient in operation, convenient to use and neat in appearance.

Another important object of the invention is to provide in such apparatus swingably mounted wiper elements each adapted to be swung through a limited arcuate path of travel in order to more effectively perform their primary function and in order to further permit dislodgment of mud or the like which may become caked therebetween simply by altering the relative positions of the elements by swinging the same through said paths of travel.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of an improved type of shoe-engaging wiper element having the normally uppermost portion thereof formed of resilient material and transversely angled from a vertical position.

Other important objects of this invention are its details of construction, including the manner in which the scraper blades are utilized as cross-members forming a part of the base, the manner in which the brusher assembly braces the scraper blades, the way in which the brusher assembly normally retains the wipers within their holders but is releasable to permit removal of the wiper for cleaning or replacement, and the way in which the foot mat is held by the sections of the base and helps to maintain the latter in spaced relationship while also providing a nonskid, support-engaging surface for the apparatus. Other more minor objects of the invention will become apparent or will be made clear as the following specification progresses.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the apparatus of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of such apparatus, parts being broken away for clarity;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on line IH--lII of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view taken on line IVIV of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the end portion of one of the wiper elements; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a modified form of wiper element.

The shoe cleaner apparatus of this invention, includes a base 12 including a pair of horizontal sections 14 and 16, a pair of upstanding flanges 18 and 20 and a pair of scraper blades 22 and 24; a plurality of wiper elements 26; a brusher assembly 28; and a foot mat 30.

The horizontal sections 14 and 16 of the base are each elongated and are channel-shaped in cross-section, as best shown in Fig. 3, the elements 14 and 16 being disposed in parallel, opposing relationship with their respective channels 32 and 34 in facing relationship. Each of sections 14 and 16 is provided with a number of downturned dimples 36 extending into the channels 32 and 34 respectively thereof.

Flanges 18 and 20 are elongated and upstanding and are mounted upon their respective sections 14 and 16, preferably integrally therewith, at the uppermost and innermost extremity thereof and adjacent one end thereof, as shown in Fig. 1.

2,704,852 Patented Mar. 29, 1955 ice Flanges 18 and 20 are each provided with an opening 42 for each wiper element 26 respectively. Holes 42 each have a vertical, front, side wall 44, a rear, side wall 46 inclined from wall 44 by an acute angle and converging therewith as the lowermost end wall 48 of the opening 42 is approached, the upper wall 50 of each opening 42 being arcuate as best illustrated in Fig. 4.

Each of the scraper blades 22 and 24, like sections 14 and 16 and flanges 18 and 20, is preferably formed of metal. Blades 22 and 24 are each elongated and are provided with an uppermost shoe-engaging edge 52, an elongated, transversely bulged portion 54 to add strength, and a tongue 56 adjacent each end thereof and bent at right angles therefrom to abut against the sides of flanges 18 and 20. Tongues 54 may be secured to corresponding flanges 18 and 20 in any suitable manner such as by spotwelding, as shown at 57. It is, therefore, clear that the scraper blades 22 and 24 serve as cross-members forming a part of the base 12 by virtue of their interconnection between flanges 18 and 20.

Blades 22 and 24 are also each provided on their normally uppermost edges 52 with an extended, upstanding ear 53 provided with an opening 55 therethrough, the purpose of same being hereinafter made clear.

Each of the wiper elements 26 includes a holder 58 comprising an elongated, channeled, preferably metallic member having the open side of its channel 60 at the uppermost transverse margin of the holder 58. Elongated wipers 62, which are preferably formed of rubber, belting or other resilient material, within the channels 60 of holders 58 and are preferably held therein by friction only as to be easily removable from holders 58, but may obviously be permanently secured therein, if desired. The holders 58 are cut away adjacent the uppermost margin of each end thereof as at 66, best shown in Fig. 5, to present a vertical shoulder 67 spaced from each end of each holder 58. It is significant that the vertical, transverse dimension of the holders 58 adjacent their cutaway portions 66, that is, between each shoulder 67 and the corresponding end of the holder 58, is less than the vertical distance between the lowermost wall 48 and the uppermost wall 50 of openings 42 of flanges 18 and 20 by an amount permitting the holders 58 to swing freely within openings 42. Shoulders 67 obviously keep holders 58 from such degree of longitudinal movement as would result in their dislodgment from openings 42.

The brusher assembly 28 includes a stiflly bristled brush 68 for use in cleaning that portion of a shoe disposed between the sole and the instep and sides of the shoe, the brush 68 being mounted on a strong but bendable rod or wire 70. The ends 72 of rod 70 are passed through holes 55 in ears 53 of blades 22 and 24, then bent downwardly as illustrated, to hold the brush 68 in place. Besides its primary or shoe cleaning function, assembly 28 serves the dual function of adding rigidity to blades 22 and 24 of the base 12 and of providing a stop or limit above which the wipers 62 may not be lifted while as sembly 28 is in place upon blades 22 and 24, thereby preventing their inadvertent dislodgment from holders 58. For such latter purpose, the assembly 28 is preferably disposed with brush just above and out of engagement with the wipers 62 of elements 26 but sufficiently close thereto to prevent inadvertent removal of wipers 62. Assembly 28 may be easily removed from base 12 for cleaning of brush 68 or wipers 62 by unbending ends 72 of rod 70 and removing the same from cars 53 in the obvious manner.

The floor mat 30 is preferably formed of rubber or other resilient material and is of dimensions to extend between sections 14 and 16 of the base 12 within the channels 32 and 34 respectively thereof. Mat 30 is frictionally interconnected with sections 14 and 16 by the engagement of dimples 36 with the uppermost face of the mat 30. Upstanding, transverse ribs 84 are preferably provided upon the mat 30 to increase its efficiency when used for cleaning the lowermost surface of the shoes of a user. It is notable that, under the weight of a user standing upon mat 30, the lowermost surface 85 thereof will be displaced from the position shown in Fig. 3 and into frictional engagement with the floor or support indicated in such figure at 11, thereby holding apparatus 10 against slipping.

A modified form of wiper element 126 is illustrated in Fig. 6 and includes an elongated holder 158 in all respects similar to the holders 58 above described. The wiper 162 of element 126, however, is provided with an uppermost longitudinal portion 164 whose transverse axis is inclined by an acute angle from the transverse axis of the lower portion 166 of wiper 162 disposed within the holder 158. Such modified form of wiper element 126 has been found to exhibit improved wiping characteristics over wiping elements 26 utilizing the more conventional planar type of wiper 62. Such improvement results from the tendency of the uppermost portion 164 of wiper 162 to bend back toward a position in a plane with the lowermost portion 166 when the shoe of a user is drawn thereacross from right to left as in Fig. 6 and then to return to its normal condition when the pressure of the shoe is slightly released to thereby exert a flipping action or force against materials on the shoe by virtue of the inherent resiliency of the wiper 162.

It will now be apparent that a most eflicient, foolproof and simple apparatus has been presented by this invention, which combines in one device all of the various shoe cleaning tools normally needed in a way disposing such tools as cooperative parts of the structure as a whole to minimize the cost of manufacture and render the apparatus convenient to use. It will be obvious that many minor modifications and changes could be made from the structure hereinabove described without departing from the spirit of thisinvention. Accordingly, it is intended that this invention shall be deemed limited only by the scope of the appended claim. Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

Shoe cleaner apparatus comprising a base having a pair of separate sections and a pair of spaced, shoe-engaging,

scraper blades interconnecting the sections; a number of shoe-engaging, wiper elements each including a holder mounted in a bridging relationship to the sections and a wiper removably supported by the holder; a shoe-engaging, brusher assembly interconnecting the blades and disposed relative to the elements for maintaining the wipers in said supported condition relative to the holders; and a shoe-engaging, foot mat disposed in part beneath the blades, the elements and the assembly for catching material loosened from the shoe of a user and between the sections in releasable, interconnecting relationship thereto for maintaining the sections in predetermined, spaced relationship.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,029,802 Giclas June 18, 1912 1,059,292 Frederick Apr. 15, 1913 2,056,058 Tiedemann Sept. 29, 1936 2,155,462 Anderson Apr. 25, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,840 Great Britain of 1868 175,180 Canada Feb. 20, 1917 

